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woensdag 28 oktober 2015

Update of one of my smallest and one of my first bonsai attempts.
From a cutting in 1996, Ribes species. Good 15cm in height. Every year it flowers but it only produces small berries. It is some sort of a cultivar.

Has spent its entire life in pot. No fat trunk here, but this is just what it is. Since this year I put it in a bigger pot, good new substrate, good feeding...to encourage growth, to let trunk/branches thicken, gain vigour. After that, it will go back into a smaller and lower pot.

New in my collection of raw material, since early april this year. This is Fraxinus Excelsior, the common European Ash.

Hasn't really recovered fully from collection this year, growth was quite poor but it survived well.
Let's see what next spring brings, I'm hopeful!
The idea is to create the image of a pollarded tree, which is quite typical of the region I live in, with Fraxinus Excelsior being one of the typical species uses for that.

I'm aiming for a 5 year plan before it'll start to look decent and be able to put in a good pot. In 10 years I should be able to have a canopy that only needs maintenance.

My other little Rowan tree, one of my first bonai attempts ever. From seed, since 1997 (or was it 1996). Has only spent 2 growing seasons in the ground, always kept in pot. Height is just under 30cm. Rowan has to be pruned drastically and consequently if you want to end up with more than a straight trunk and few straight branches. It took some years to create a decent base so ramification has only begun since a good 2 years. Give it another couple of years and I think this will make a presentable little tree. Great fall colours on Rowans !

maandag 19 oktober 2015

Update 19.10.2015 of my newly collected small Rowan tree (Sorbus Aucuparia), 7 months ago. About two weeks ago I pruned away several shouts +1meter of this year. We'll have to wait and see how it evolves. I'll wait and see for next years growth to decide in the further styling. But surely this will be a smallsized tree. The girth of the trunk base is about...a cup. I'll have to treat that bit of dull/rotten natural deadwood. Nice species I think, and will look beautiful in fall colours once the canopy is there.

Well, as you can see, I'll keep it.
This one has spent (was dumped) more than 2 years in a corner in my garden (which is always too small). Once a year it got pruned back, nothing more than basics.
But this method has produced a good lot of buds which can come in handy next year. First I'll see if my brutal handling (fierce rootpruning and changing the angle, in a small pot) doesn't kill the tree over winter. I'll make sure it gets protection from frost or icy winds, even if the species can take that easily. Oh yes, obviously a bit of carving to do near the big trunk cut.
If it survives it could be fun to build it up, my first (of 4) alders in pot it'll be then. Heavy watering, heavy feeding.

Just an update 18.10.2015 with my Crataegus Monogyna (common, European, hawthorn) that went into dormancy...

Started from nothing more than the trunk and little stumps since 2008. It was collected from a garden hedge in 2006 or 2007 I believe (a bonsaifriend back then who wanted to get rid of it).

Next year late winter I'll look into the primary branches, will I keep all of them as is...can I/should I adjust position, etc. From then on, finally, basic structure has been built, and more refinement can come! The tree is not meant to have a hyper-trimmed japanese style canopy. A bit of roughness, a bit of nonchalance, even the occasional 'bad'looking spiky branches or crossing branchlet is allowed to a certain extent.